Young Surfers Spurn Banner Ads, Embrace ‘Widgets’

Teens and tweens tend to not like ads that are interuptions, but don’t mind engaging with an ad when it has some content value for them. Widgets have quickly become a common advertising medium, and consumers seem very open to them – especiall if there is an incentive.

A study of attitudes about online advertising shows that, not surprisingly, preteens and teenagers don’t like banner ads and other interruptions from marketers. But the study found that in the right circumstances kids enjoy playing with ad-related features on their personal pages in social-networking Web sites.